http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24851711-5017817,00.html
How Israel tricked Hamas before launching Gaza strikes By Abraham Rabinovich in Jerusalem The Australian December 29, 2008 12:00am <http://player.video.news.com.au/news/#bx8B5CbmT_kfgs52asslZur2I8U1Jw5S> A SEEMINGLY offhand report on Israel Radio that the Cabinet would meet over the weekend to plan a military operation in the Gaza <http://search.news.com.au/search//0/?us=ndmnews&sid=5017817&as=news&ac=sear ch&q=Gaza%20Strip> Strip was a feint, which set up Hamas for Israel's surprise strike. The radio report, on Friday, was a final move in six months of planning and deception leading up to the strikes, <http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24851693-2703,00.html> The Australian reported. Suggestions in the report that Israel had yet to finish attack plans persuaded the Hamas leadership it had at least until yesterday before taking precautions against an air raid that it had every reason to believe was coming. After a five-hour Cabinet meeting on Friday, Hamas had mocked the government "that holds meetings to discuss decisions to take to stop the rockets" while militants "bombard with dozens of mortars and rockets". A large group of Hamas security staff completing an officers' training course were outdoors at their base just before noon on Saturday, standing in formation at a graduation ceremony, when the planes struck, killing and wounding many of them. Scores of targets across Gaza were hit simultaneously by the first Israeli wave, catching Hamas staff in facilities that were supposed to be have been evacuated before the fighting started. Adding to the deception was a surprise announcement by Defence <http://search.news.com.au/search//0/?us=ndmnews&sid=5017817&as=news&ac=sear ch&q=Defence%20Minister%20Ehud%20Barak> Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday that, despite the tension and war-edge atmosphere, trucks carrying humanitarian supplies would be permitted to enter the Strip. The supplies crossed into Gaza on Friday, encouraging the notion that a military strike was not imminent. Finally, Israel's Southern Command was sent on leave on Friday and, further adding to the element of surprise, the operation was launched on the Jewish Sabbath. "Hamas was watching and listening," said Haaretz newspaper, adding that the rulers of Gaza tracked the army's movements and took the bait. "Hamas evacuated all its headquarters personnel after the cabinet meeting on Wednesday," one defence official said. "But the organisation sent its people back in when they heard that everything was put on hold until Sunday." Israel thus achieved tactical surprise, despite having let it be known for more than a week that the Cabinet had decided to launch a military attack to stop rockets being fired from Gaza into Israel. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
